Understanding rabbinic Judaism, from Talmudic to modern times

What do we mean by "rabbinic civilization"? Why do we claim that the widely separated and culturally diverse Jewish communities of the past eighteen centuries together constitute an essentially harmonious expression of a single set of values and ideals, so as to be accurately characterized as a distinctive 'civilization' among mankind? The answer is that nearly the whole of world Jewry from Talmudic times to the nineteenth century in the West, and to the Holocaust in the East, and a large part of world Jewry today -- nearly the whole of the Orthodox sector -- share a single, far-ranging and inclusive view of life and way of living. That view is built upon a single symbol, "Torah," articulated in a disciplined way, and interprets everyday affairs and historical events alike in terms of a single symbol, "Torah." The pervasive and universal presence of "Torah," the proximate uniformity of the institutions -- the rabbi, the synagogue, the law -- which expressed and embodied that symbol the widespread acceptance of the authority of those institutions and the meaningfulness of that symbol -- these together justify our characterizing the Jews as living a single mode of life, constituting a unique civilization. And since the rabbi and the Torah were at the center of that civilization, we call it "rabbinic." - Introduction.